Eria
New Year was just a week ago, but it felt like ages, thanks to the harsh and tiring Work-Studies I had experienced. School resumed as normal, but me and Todoroki, Midoriya and Bakugou still need to check in at Endeavour's weekly.
The first day of school ended rather smoothly, with an insane increase of homework and training to prepare us for the next school year. Finals were looming close, and with the pressure of improving my quirk piling on me too, I was glad that I could still breathe.
"I need a hug......" I muttered nonchalantly, missing my mother's warm hug which comforted me whenever I was stressed.
"Okay," Todoroki abruptly replied and stood up from his seat.
Midoriya and Iida gaped, their faces blushing like tomatoes. Ochako was holding her breath, not from embarrassment, but rather of laughter. Todoroki was looking at me expectantly, and I was rather tempted to say yes.
"What, no! I meant my mother!" I retorted, screeching in a high pitch voice, trying to hide my embarrassment.
"Oh. Sorry," Todoroki said, sounded a little disappointed. He sat back down on his chair, still unaware of the complications he had just made with his move.
HE IS TOO PURE!
"Are you all okay?" he asked, looking at Midoriya and Iida.
"H-h-how b-b-brave you are to do... do that......" Midoriya stuttered.
"You mean giving a hug?"
"Yes! W-well......"
"Takasaki asks for it a lot, and it feels nice."
"ARE YOU TWO DATING?" Iida roared in an outburst, drawing attention as heads turned in our direction.
"Why would you assume we are dating because of a hug? Friends do that a lot, right?" Todoroki asked very logically.
I wanted to say something, but the redness in my cheeks was driving me nuts.
Iida scrunched his eyebrows. "Ah I see. A friendly, platonic hug. Then that is understandable."
Ochako was out of breath - laughing from the dorkiness and pureness of her friends. I had given up on explaining anything.
"How many times had you been friendzoned again?" she whispered to me.
"Shut. Up," I hissed. I looked at my phone and saw the date, then a realization hit me like a train.
Two more days and it would be January 11 - Todoroki's birthday.
"Shit!" I cursed under my breath. I dragged Ochako to a side, and told her.
"So...... what are you planning to do?" she asked, with a smirk.
"I don't know. After all he has went through for my birthday, I should at least do something nice for him -"
"Like a date."
"-yes, like a date- NO! We can't go on a date!"
"Why not? He took you once. It's to repay him as a favour."
"I'm not going to do that! It's embarrassing enough......" I blushed furiously, thinking of going on a second date with Todoroki. "I'm gonna make something for him or... we can have a party or something...."
"Oh no. I don't think we can do it. I think most of us wouldn't be around. I'll be away this weekend for Work-Studies," she replied.
If I want to have a party for Todoroki, the whole class had to be there. So I went around, asking how many of my classmates would be around for the weekend, as January 11 falls on a Saturday. My worries came true. All of them were occupied with their Work Studies and wouldn't be around.
"I don't want the first celebration for Todoroki to end up like this," I said, pouting.
"Then you'll just have to celebrate it with him yourself," she said, smirking.
Despite the stress, Todoroki's birthday celebration gave me motivation to carry on with my school life. It was only two days away yet I had no idea how to celebrate it for him. I was occupied with Work Studies on that day too, and I doubted I had the time to prepare anything for Todoroki.
But it's Todoroki's birthday, so I'll just squeeze some time for him, no matter what!
***
Our class had a Line group chat online, courtesy of Kaminari and Sero who insisted we stay connected online. Not everyone knew it was Todoroki's birthday when midnight came, and most of them including the birthday boy would be asleep right now, but I still left a message in the group, hoping everyone would wish him.
I fell onto my bed, thinking of the little celebration I was planning for him when my phone chirped.
It was Todoroki, the first who responded to my message.
'Thank you,' he wrote.
"God... this idiot who should have been asleep by now, isn't asleep at all? Damn it, now I won't be getting any sleep......" I mumbled against my pillow, as a smile spread across my face.
***
Even if no one else was available to celebrate Todoroki's birthday, I've decided to do it on my own. I had asked Satou for a cake recipe, but went against it when I realised I didn't had time to make it. It would be better to buy one instead, but I wasn't sure if I had the time to buy one too. Another problem was the birthday present, which I never prepared anything in advance.
"Maybe I should just give him an all-you-can-eat zaru soba buffet coupon...... that guy would probably worship me for life......" I mumbled.
"What are you mumbling about again, Snowy?" Bakugou suddenly interrupted my thoughts as he walked past. He looked at me like I was some lunatic.
"Kacchan, could you -" Midoriya walked towards us, asking for something but Bakugou rudely shut him up.
"No, so go and die!"
Midoriya shivered a little. "K-Kacchan......"
When it was about time to depart to Endeavour's agency, Todoroki finally arrived, looking slightly drowsy. He was an early sleeper, and staying up till midnight yesterday was never his thing.
"How did you know it is my birthday?" it was the first thing he asked when he saw me.
"I stalked you and found out," I replied.
He looked surprised.
"I'm you best friend and you told me, idiot."
"Oh yes. I forgot."
What a dork.
"GET MOVING!" Bakugou screeched as he walked past us.
"Happy birthday, Todoroki!" Midoriya said cheerfully.
"Thank you."
"GET MOVING IDIOTS! DON'T WASTE MY TIME!"
On the way to the train station, I lagged behind and dragged Bakugou and Midoriya with me. "I need your help," I muttered to them. "I want to give Todoroki a small celebration for his birthday."
"Sure!" "FUCK NO!" They both replied different answers at the same time.
"But Todoroki is our frien-"
"He is not MY friend, stupid Deku!"
I sighed. "Come on Bakugou. Please?" I opened my eyes wide, tried to show him my puppy look, but instead he looked rather disgusted and backed up.
"Fine. Since you don't want to help, at least keep it a secret for us," I said.
Bakugou clicked his tongue. "Whatever." He walked ahead of us, hands in his pocket with his shoulders slumped.
"So, what are you planning?" Midoriya asked.
"Something simple, like a cake. I didn't prepare any special presents," I replied.
"Me too," he said regrettably. "Where are you planning to get it?"
"Any bakery near our patrol route, I guess."
"I think it would be hard to hide a cake if we buy it during our patrol."
"He's dense. He would believe that I'm buying it for myself if I said so," I said confidently.
"He's a dumbass," Bakugou interjected when we walked close to him.
"K-Kacchan......"
"He's not dumb, he's just......"
"Dense and dumb are the same thing. I don't understand why you like that idiot."
"First of all he is not dumb. And secondly - w-what do you mean I like him?!" I screeched, my face blushing like a tomato.
"Isn't it obvious -"
"HE IS MY BEST FRIEND! I LIKE HIM AS A FRIEND!" I shouted loudly, as if I wanted the whole world to hear me.
But Bakugou eyed me suspiciously. "Whatever, dumbass."
Bakugou that jerk......
***
I still felt uneasy that our little secret celebration could go awry, so I 'recruited' another person to help us.
"You want me to do what?" Endeavour looked down at us like he was the Titan who destroyed the Wall of Maria, while Midoriya and I looked rather small and helpless in the face of his wrath. His electric blue eyes that his son had inherited glared at us sharply.
"To help with the celebration we are planning...... to distract your dear son......" my confidence wavered, flying off like a balloon losing air. The longer I looked at Endeavour, the more I felt how timid I was. "......please?" I squeaked.
"It's his birthday -" Midoriya added, also looking timid.
"I know it's his birthday. Heroes do not have time for this," Endeavour replied.
I was starting to regret asking Endeavour in the first place. Even though Todoroki was dense to realise what we were planning, but......
"But it could help you earn some good points with your son?" I explained, trying to be brave.
"And heroes deserve some relaxing time so that they can perform better in the future, because we are all humans and not robots and -" Midoriya started a long speech of explaining, and I feared it would make things worse.
Endeavour's brows were knitted together. Midoriya and I were going to be fired, or worse, killed.
"I will pay for the cake."
Midoriya and I stared blankly, gaping a little.
"Is there a problem with that?" Endeavour asked.
We shook our heads vigorously.
Endeavour took a credit card from his wallet and passed it to us trustingly. "You don't need to tell him I paid for it. He wouldn't believe it anyway."
That sounded a little sad. But he was right, I guess.
***
Endeavour took us on a patrol today. Occasionally, civilians who spotted us took our photos and cheered, while younger teenage girls shrieked in joy when they saw Todoroki, like fans who just met their favourite celebrity. Thankfully, Todoroki didn't care about them, or probably he didn't understand why they were acting like that around him.
"Is it because of Endeavour?" he suddenly asked me.
I choked. "Well, yes?" God, what a dork.
"I think so too," Midoriya replied very honestly. Now we have two dorks on board.
"Idiots," Bakugou murmured. "FUCK OFF!" He yelled at the fans who were irritating him.
"Lunch break. Get what you need from the convenient store or whatever," Endeavour said.
There was a bakery next to the convenient store, with beautiful, delicious cakes on display. I nudged Midoriya and we decided to sneak out of the convenient store when Todoroki was not noticing.
"Where are you going?" a voice halted us as we were nearly out of the store.
"We are going to the bakery next door," Midoriya said.
"Oh," Todoroki said monotonously, but his eyes gleamed disappointment as he swallowed down his next sentence.
"Without me?" was probably what he wanted to say, I imagined. It felt like knives stabbed through my heart.
"We... we aren't going for fun...... Endeavour sent us for it," I said, pinning the blame on his father.
Todoroki scrunched his brows, while Midoriya looked shocked at my little white lie.
"He has a sweet tooth," I added.
Todoroki sighed. "I'll talk to him. He can't just send you on his errands."
"No! It's really fine. We are just trainees and he's like our boss......."
"That is still inappropriate. I will talk to him -"
"Oi, Half-and-Half, will you shut up? You're ruining my appetite," Bakugou said as he walked from the other aisle, glaring daggers at us.
"How am I ruining your appetite?" Todoroki asked.
"Because you're an idiot." Bakugou rolled his eyes and looked at me, sending an inconspicuous signal.
'Go, you idiots.'
Bakugou stepped forward and started arguing with Todoroki on how dumb he was, and Todoroki, being distracted, started to ask for clear explanations on why was he an idiot.
"Because you scored lower than me in the exams."
"......But we took supplementary lessons together -"
"I am not on the same level with you!"
We sneakily snuck out to the bakery while releasing a sigh. There were plenty of cakes and buns that drew my attention, and I didn't know which to pick.
"If only there is a zaru soba cake......." I muttered. "You don't perhaps have one, do you?"
The storekeeper probably thought I was crazy, but she smiled politely and said no.
"The chocolate cake looks nice," Midoriya peered through the glass at a cake. He turned around and gaped when he saw a cake that was garnished with All Might's face on it. That was when I lost him.
What else does Todoroki likes? I do see him drink strawberry milk a lot......
"Do you have a strawberry cake?"
The storekeeper nodded. She gestured at a cake garnished with a large amount of strawberries on top of a layer of white cream. Its red-and-white theme reminded me of Todoroki a lot.
"Perfect. Do you do deliveries, then?"
***
After lunch, we resumed our patrol with Endeavour. It was still peaceful without any villains, but a small crowd of fangirls were tailing us, snickering and pointing at Todoroki. The subject himself was oblivious of it. Somehow it irritated Bakugou and he shouted at them, especially when one of them called him an angry pineapple.
"CONTROL YOUR FANGIRLS!" He started yelling at Todoroki again.
"My what?" Todoroki replied, looking blankly.
I was fine with so many people putting their attention on us. At least they didn't cause any trouble. I wondered if I needed to defend Todoroki from the swarm of crazy fans -
Suddenly, there was a cold chill down my spine and I stopped walking. The hairs on my skin stood at their ends, and my blood ran cold.
It felt like danger.
I looked around, pondering if I needed to activate my Sixth Sense. But there was nothing dangerous of the civilians walking past or following us. If there were any dangers, Endeavour would be the first to pounce. But the tall man walked ahead, staying as vigilant to not miss out anything on his radar.
I tried to calm myself with a deep breath, but the ominous omen of danger still lingered in the air.
"Something wrong?" Todoroki asked, the first to notice my abnormality.
"It's...... I don't know. Felt like someone was watching me." As soon as I spoke, a shiver ran across my entire body, and a split second later, everything returned to normal. The omen of danger vanished, and I started to doubt myself for being paranoid.
Todoroki didn't look convinced. He looked around, and the fangirls shrieked when he glanced at them.
"Are those civilians troubling you? Or......"
"No. It's fine," I said. "Or what?"
"Nothing," he replied, but somehow it felt like he was lying. "Just stick close." He seemed troubled of something, but he didn't say anything.
Even if he didn't say it aloud, I knew what he wanted to say. I had never forgotten about it. I knew it would happen again one day; it was just a matter of time.
The villain who tried to abduct me - Scarlet's sister.
***
The patrol ended early for the day because Endeavour said he was going to do something else and we would be a nuisance. He sent us back to our hostel and watched us walk into the building. It seemed he wanted to say something to his son, but he swallowed it down and left. Todoroki didn't bother to stay and say something to his father either, but somehow he wore the same expression as his father's - he wanted to say something but didn't felt brave enough to speak it aloud.
Like father like son, I guess.
No one else was in the hostel yet as it was not even dinner time. I hurried to the kitchen and checked for the cake, and there it was in the refrigerator, wrapped beautifully with a ribbon.
"I'll come down for dinner later," Todoroki said.
"Wait!" I called. "Could you hold on and wait by the sofa?"
"Oh... okay," he replied unsuspectingly and walked to the sofa.
"I need fire to light up the candles," I said to Midoriya. "No Bakugou! We are not BLOWING UP the cake!"
Bakugou clicked his tongue and kept his sparks away.
"What are you doing here anyway?"
"I'm hungry," he said.
"You want to celebrate it with us?" Midoriya asked.
"No!"
"You just want some cake, do you?"
"No! I just happen to be hungry!"
What a tsundere dork.
After lighting the candles on the cake, I meticulously carried it to the sofa, where Todoroki was patiently waiting. He didn't even ask why he was requested to sit here, as if he was an obedient little puppy. When the cake appeared before him, his bright eyes widened with surprise. He froze at his spot, unable to react to what was happening.
"Happy birthday, Todoroki!" Midoriya and I shouted, while Bakugou folded his arms and clicked his tongue.
Todoroki still stared at the cake blankly, with his eyes widened and bright, glinting with a little moisture. It took a while and he finally spoke, voice cracking. "This... is for me?"
"Yes," I said.
"See, an idiot," Bakugou huffed.
"I will punch you if you don't shut up," I hissed.
"It was all Takasaki's idea. Sorry everyone else isn't here, but we still wanted to celebrate your birthday, even if it's just a cake and just the three of us," Midoriya added.
"DON'T COUNT ME IN, DEKU!"
Todoroki still froze at his spot. I thought he had become a statue.
"Before you cry tears of joy, let's blow the candles first," I said teasingly.
He finally looked up from the cake and glared at me for a while, but his glare softened immediately. "I am not going to cry."
I placed the cake on the table. "Then hurry up and make a wish! The candles are melting."
He closed his eyes and pondered silently for a while. "Can I blow it now?"
Midoriya and I nodded.
He blew the candles and we clapped for him, singing the birthday song for last.
"Finally something to eat. You guys are so slow," Bakugou complained, taking the knife from Midoriya and cutting the cake into perfect triangles. Even though he said he wasn't celebrating, he still helped out a little.
"I didn't know what kind of cake you'd like, and there's definitely no zaru soba cake, so we just bought a strawberry cake," I said.
"It's fine. Thank you very much," Todoroki said, looking at his cake. "It's just...... this is the first time I had friends celebrate my birthday for me."
"Todoroki, you are going to make me cry so stop talking and eat," I said. "Oh god, Midoriya are you going to cry? Please don't."
"No, I'm not!"
"Geez, you idiots make it sound like a funeral. JUST FUCKING SHUT UP AND EAT. YOU'RE RUINING MY CAKE."
"Sorry," Todoroki muttered.
"Don't apologise to him just because he has mood swings. It's your birthday!" I said.
Bakugou wanted to yell at me but he stuffed his mouth with cake instead. We ate silently, while I glanced at Todoroki to make sure he really wasn't crying. It didn't take long for the whole cake to be finished. It was probably because we were absolutely parched. At the same time, my other classmates were returning to the hostel, and the once quiet place turned lively again.
"Happy birthday, Todoroki!" "Cake!" "Wait, it's Todoroki's birthday today?" "Oh no, we didn't celebrate it for him!"
"It's really fine, thank you. Takasaki, Midoriya and Bakugou celebrated it for me just now," Todoroki replied humbly.
They formed a silent 'oh' with their mouths, while the Bakusquad looked shocked.
"Bakugou? Celebrating? Has the world gone mad?" Sero snickered.
"Who are you and what have you done with Bakugou?!" Kaminari joined in.
"YOU WANNA DIE?!"
While Bakugou was off chasing the two, I was about to leave for a bath but Todoroki called me.
"So the bakery where you said you were buying a cake for Endeavour......"
"Yup, a lie. Sorry. You're dense, to figure it out after this long," I replied.
He scrunched his brows. "I am not...... never mind." He awkwardly scratched his neck. "Thank you for everything. I wasn't expecting it at all. It......meant a lot...... to me."
"No biggie. That's what friends do." Or what I would do for you because I would definitely do anything for you. But let's just keep that a secret. "Oh yeah, I still have a present for you."
"It's too much. I can't accept it-"
"It's a coupon to an all-you-can-eat zaru soba buffet."
"......"
"You want it, don't you?"
"...... Can I?"
WHAT A CUTE DORK! I took out an envelope from my bag and passed it to him. His eyes glinted joyfully.
"I can't thank you enough."
I chuckled. "Well, maybe a hug would suffice -" I nearly said 'a kiss' instead of a hug, but Todoroki didn't hesitate to act. His strong arms wrapped around me; his warmth enveloped me once more and I felt safe and calm.
"Thank you for being my friend," he muttered again.
"No problem," I said, hugging him back.
There was nothing I wouldn't do for him. Including sacrificing my life to save his.
***
Author's notes:
1. First of all, thanks everyone for the birthday ideas!!! This chapter is inspired by your ideas so please enjoy it!!!
2. This is a fairly easygoing chapter, a little bit weak for my taste. There were more dialogues than usual so I hope you would like it like the rest of the chapters. Please don't hesitate to give me some reviews if you think it is needed.
3. Updates will be slow again, since there is a chance i might end up writing faster than the current manga pace. Eria's villains are still out there, so don't forget about them too!
4. Happy Lunar New Year to all those who celebrate it! May the Ox bring blessings to all!
5. Lastly, stay safe, take care, and all the best!
Love, whiteraven.